Americathon is a little known cult comedy from 1979, set 20 years into the future and stars the likes of John Ritter and even Meatloaf, jumping over a car. In it, the US goes bankrupt and into a debt crisis. Sound familiar? Instead of raising the debt ceiling, as the US government did during their crisis just a few months ago, the country decides to put on a fund-raising telethon, hopefully earning enough money as to avoid the country defaulting back to a group of Native Americans, owners of a then little known company called Nike - although in the film, Nike is depicted as brand far outreaching the likes of Microsoft. It's all like Children in Need, but without Pudsey Bear, and it's not about Children, it's about a whole country and their bottomed out credit rating. So I guess it's nothing like Children in Need, actually. Anyway, perhaps it was easy to predict that the US fall into a debt crisis and lose it's lovely credit rating as far back as 1979. But watch the film closely - or don't, because it's quite pants and only available on VHS these days - and you'll notice that Americathon predicts more than just the US' falling economy and debt to other nations. It's easy enough to predict a trend, but this film also predicts numerous, at the time over the top, situations which became reality. To name a few: - The weakening of US oil production. - The fall of the USSR. - China turning to capitalism and becoming a global economic mega power. - A relative of a former US president taking office. - Inflated prices on everyday items. It goes on. In the opening credits we're greeted with the scene of a motorway dominated by bikes instead of cars, a commentary of the oil production and thus hike in fuel prices, amongst other things. Bike sales are on the up, primarily for these reasons these days, so are we looking into the future? After all, Americathon got everything else right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqYoB6BLOMw
Ian is a North Eastern lad who has written across a variety of mediums. An avid tea drinker with a custard cream addiction, Ian is the guardian of five foot tall inflatable penguin called Kevin.
